Saturday, January 30, 2010

Deathwish Inc. has posted a link to listen to 2 new songs from the long awaited 108 record "18.61". Its been what feels like forever since the last record, so Im fiending for the new album. You can listen to the new songs here.

Also, Rob Fish responsed and said that the long awaited Ressurection discography should be out by the summer.

I had never heard of Beg For Life until last summer with the exception of my friend Luis who was into them. The band is from Yuma, Arizona and was on tour with The Hoods. Luis told me they sound like Disembodied...I've heard that so many times since the band got back together so I figured I'd go to the show to hang out and see. I went to my car for one reason or another as they were setting up and I heard the band begin, opening up with "Seven Stitches" by Disembodied. I kinda opened my eyes real wide and ran into the club. The band ran through their set, completely destroying everything in their path. I was impressed to say the least and I made it a point to talk to them afterwards. I sat outside and spoke with Jeff and Eddie for about 2 hours. Great guys who seriously love hardcore...okay just wanted to give you a short rundown on how I first heard them.To get a good understanding of the band, take the best elements of All Out War (the apocalyptic lyrics and Slayer guitar parts), Disembodied (the slow sludgy heavy riffs) and Martyr AD (the speed and discordance) but adding a fresh take on the sound that many bands today seem to lack. Don't get me wrong, the band does draw heavy influences from the aforementioned bands but definitely is not a clone. The recording is excellent, everything can be clearly heard and is distinct. At the time I saw them, they did not have the record available so Eddie sent me the MP3s. I can't comment on the layout since I don't have it but the cover of the record looks like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Lyrically, the band speaks of Hell and the world going to hell in a hand basket. Very dark stuff. Overall, the record is one of my favorites of last year and I really hope the band continues to get on tours. They are hardworking and are single handedly building a scene in small Yuma. If you still dig bands that play that 90s style of metallic hardcore but with a early 2000's feel, you are probably going to like this. Highly recommended. You can check out songs from the record by clicking here and going to their Myspace.You can order the record and pick up some shirts by checking out their Merch Store.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Again, I apologize for my lack of content lately but Ill be back in town tomorrow so posting will commence more steadily on my end. I came across this video of Albany's favorite sons, One King Down, tearing the roof off of the Cocodrie in San Francisco. There's no date given but we can assume its either the late 90s or early 2000's based on the fact that the band was playing as a 4 piece. They would have been touring off of "Gravity Wins Again" with Matt Wood taking over on drums after Derrick Van Wie left and joined Another Victim/True Love/The Promise. An all time classic hardcore song by one of the best.Also don't forget to check out our previous post on One King Down. The band was nice enough to send us the demo they recorded with Rob on vocals back in 2006...its a Stuck In The Past exclusive so check it out.

As Kindred was winding down, the band that quickly became their metalcore-successor in the Limburg area of Belgium was Ashlar. They took Kindred's sound and added an 'evil' element to it, as corny as that may sound. They were more metal than Kindred, with a singer who was nothing short of a maniac on stage. Chewing on the occasional blood-capsule, rolling away his eyes till only the white showed, it was a bit ridiculous even back then but few people cared as the band was a tight metalcore-machine on stage... While the recordings show the potential this band had, this band's true power was on stage, always good times. The guitarist would mostly just chew on some bubblegum and play his riffs like they were the simplest power chords, while the bassist and drummer were laying down the heavy foundation of their sound. Good stuff and memorable shows.

They were around for a relatively brief time and managed to do only one proper release, the 'Enthroned In A So-Called Heaven' MCD, released in 1998. One thing to note here is that the singer sounds different on these recordings than live, because he was down with a cold during the recordings and thus had a sore throat which heavily affected his voice. Apart from that, this is a solid and good record which I still enjoy listening to.

They did record another record which unfortunately is hard to come by as it wasn't properly released. Thanxxx to Sebastian 'xUNBORNx' from the XCatalystX forums I've managed to get mp3's and scans of it. It was recorded in 2004 when they did a few reunion-shows and decided to record a couple of new songs. It's harder and even more metal than their first release, and definitely quality stuff once again.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Hey everybodyJust wanted to apologize for not posting much lately. I just got into Miami to surprise my folks so my activity again will be limited. I did bring my harddrive so Ill try and have something for you guys tomorrow. Also if you have a chance, check out the Stuck In The Past webstore. Ill have a complete list of the in stock items I have tomorrow so please be patient. Also being that I am in Miami until the 27th, if you place an order I will not be able to fill it until I return to Tallahassee. Lots of great hardcore in there so please if you have a chance, check it out and support worldwide hardcore.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Some of the finest '90s hardcore bands came together in the mid '90s to record this benefit compilation consisting of the entire Embrace self-titled album. Embrace was one of Ian MacKaye's post-Minor Threat and pre-Fugazi bands. Many people (myself included) consider the Embrace album to be MacKaye's best pre-Fugazi work.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

A truly excellent musical find that I made this past week is TAFKATA's WORKER and PARASITE album. Featuring two former members of the very prolific '90s grindcore staple Enewetak, vocalist Forrest Locke (interview with him coming soon) and bassist Toby Sterrett (on drums in TAFKATA), along with vocalist Brock Elmore, bassist Hugh Blake and guitarist Eddie Bermudez, TAFKATA takes up where Enewetak left off and adds a good deal more Southern fried and Black Sabbath-y sludge to the mix to create an even heavier and more sinister groove. The album is still available on vinyl from Hit The Deck Records and a limited edition TAFKATA t-shirt featuring artwork taken from their only demo and a pre-release CD of WORKER and PARASITE is available from VEDAVU.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Congress, to my knowledge, really were the band that put the H8000 scene on the map in the 90s (if Im wrong, someone correct me). To be honest, I don't even know if the re-release of this record has a different layout other than the cover. The repress has an up close shot of the wizard (yes I said wizard). The original shows the entire painting which was used on the vinyl cover. You can see what the repress looks like by clicking here. The CD cover has the word "Persistence" mispelled but it might be a European spelling difference. This original pressing includes a thank you list by Goodlife Recordings (Ive seen one other label do this but I cant remember which...I think it was Conquer The World) which is pretty unusual. Also, they include a mini catalog for their upcoming releases in the layout. Bizarre. The back tray card also features the original Goodlife logo (the lightning bolt) before it was changed to the GL that would emblazon every release. I still have to say, while incredibly different than the usual hardcore layout, I love the wizard design on the cover. So evil looking. The record was re-released with bonus tracks and a different cover but this is the original. Overall, a true European classic and a landmark for the H8000 scene.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

How this hadn't been uploaded yet is just beyond me. In my opinion, this is the best live hardcore record ever recorded in terms of energy and overall sound quality. I mean, cmon...its Sick Of It All. This was recorded in 1993 after Just Look Around had come out and they blow through everything you could want to hear from that era of the band as well as cover of Minor Threat's Betray, which was released on their We Stand Alone EP. 24 tracks spanning SOIA's musical career at the time. This was released by Lost & Found Records and unlike many of their other releases, this was a legit release. The band was not paid royalties from it (to be expected) and went into the story in an interview with Hardware zine...interesting read. The record was also released a picture disc which looks great if you can track it down. The band has officially been around for 25 years now and they still put on a better live show than any current band...listen to this and hear why.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Here's a compilation from 1997 that flew under the radar a bit at the time, but shouldn't have. It was the first release by Impression Records, a label from Germany which would later on release records from bands such as Endstand, Extinction, Caliban, Burst and Shed. This compilation, 'a benefit for imprisoned animal liberators' as it says on the back, features a stylistically fairly wide mix of bands from all over the globe, from the USA to New Zealand and from Germany to Brazil. There's plenty of good stuff to be found on this 16-band, 16-song compilation, from chugga-chugga like Contempt (USA) and The Season (New Zealand) to more crazy stuff like Innerface and Corrin (both USA) to the soft like Standpoint (USA) to more melodic hardcore like Endstand (Finland) and Ember (Czech Republic) and everything that is '90s inbetween. Not the best compilation from the '90s, but a pretty good one nonetheless, so check it out.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Bloodlet is one of my all time favorite bands. I scanned this interview from The Tribute fanzine, from Florida (Chip may have some info on the zine, i do not)It's kind of a cool interview is cool because it kind of goes a little deeper and lets you see what the members of the band were about. Kind of "demystifies" them. Also, it explains what a couple of songs are about. Enjoy.

The Bird, as we called them, we one of the most chaotic live bands I'd ever seen. They seriously tore up every show they played, throwing themselves around and just going all out insane. This was another band that Damien Moyal (Culture, Morning Again, As Friends Rust) was a part of at the start. We used to say that if he was involved in the band they were going to be good (resume includes Culture, Morning Again, Shai Hulud, As Friends Rust...you get the idea). Anyway, they released 2 great records through Eulogy Recordings (you can still snag "Self You Dare Still Breathe for $3) and then as all good bands do, broke up. This was printed by Bending Tree Screenprinting to promote the record. I distinctly remember them also having a shirt that had the logo on the front and the bird and moon logo on the back...I have a picture of it somewhere, Ill see if I can find it at my parents house. They printed this on every color shirt you can think of and I cant remember if they did another one after this (Im sure they did). I have an early video of them playing with Earth Crisis in South Florida with Damien on vocals but again no way to transfer it. Im working on it guys...enjoy. Also check out the Bird's myspace which my friend Alex (he also runs the Culture myspace) runs and did a great job of putting together.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

If you read my review on the records I received from Self True records, you would know that I am bonkers over Aspire. They are one of the best new bands out there right now (Ill have their record for sale very soon) and they love Outspoken. They covered the song "A Light In The Dark" last year at a show and someone recorded it and put it on youtube. Check it out...Im hoping to have their record available this week so Ill have a post when I receive it.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Possibly the last great comp to come out in the 90s, this was put together by Ray Cappo and released on his Supersoul imprint. Featuring some of the best youth crew revival bands of the 90s, this comp was released also as a beautiful picture disc. Unfortunately, this comp has been out of print for a while which is terrible. Almost everything on this comp is exclusive and features one of the best covers (Where Fear and Weapons Meet covering 7 Seconds "I Still Believe"). Rain on the Parade, Shelter, Eyeball, Fastbreak, In My Eyes, Battery, Ten Yard Fight...seriously great comp. I would'nt be surprised if someone reissues this eventually.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Do you run a label or play in a band that is based outside of the US? If so, I want to hear from you. Through doing this blog, Ive met so many kids from around the world who play in bands that are unable to be heard because they have no distribution in the US. Ive started a webstore http://stuckinthepast.bigcartel.com/ to change that exclusively selling foreign bands releases. if you run a label please shoot me an email with your distro and wholesale prices. Thanks for your time and I hope to hear from you.

A wonder gentleman by the name of Todd sent me the link to this. A full live set of Snapcase rocking the Lost Horizon in 1994, right after Lookinglasself came out. Everything you would want to hear from that era is played here to a crowd that is going nuts. Also, as was the staple of the time, John McKaig gives a speech before they played. Great man and great band

Heres the demo for the band that would become Green Rage. I honestly don't know much about it...I also do not have a scan of the cover so if you have it and want to contribute it, let me know. Its been quite a while since Ive heard this but its in that Green Rage vein...you know, loads of divebombs, animal rights lyrics, breakdowns. Check it out

EDIT: Poi from the band Rot In Hell was nice enough to scan the cover of the demo and send it on over for us. Big ups to him and check out Rot In Hell who will be releasing a record on Deathwish Inc soon.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Sergeant D over at Stuff You Will Hate has recently made a post about 90's screamo. Detailing some of the big names of the era, and many of the scene's absurdities, some lolz are definitely brought. Even though the two of us will never see eye to eye on Chokehold, I'm not too sure how he could lump them into the screamo thing when they just played chugga chug hardcore and didn't cry on stage.

My friend Vasya sent me these as promos last month and basically life got in the way so here I am, finally, with the reviews. Russia is really starting to come up and become a noticeable force in hardcore with American bands making the trek over on tour and new bands popping up. Vasya, vocalist for Verdict, runs Self True Records based out of Moscow and is helping to get recognition for their small but burgeoning scene. If you like what you hear from any of these, Ill have copies in stock shortly through the Stuck In The Past Distro so help support these great bands. For more information, check out the Self True Records Website.Aspire - Self Titled EPI first heard about Aspire through a post on the Catalyst board and instantly thought "Outspoken". This band reminds me a lot of Outspoken, a band that many kids like but few have really tried to emulate. These guys do it and do it well. They also remind me of Trial alot, especially in the vocal department. The music has a good share of fast parts and slower 90s chug with the tribal drum beat lead up that we love so much right before the breakdown/singalong. The band is actually based out of the Ukraine, not Moscow I just realized. The band sings in Russian so I was unable to figure out what he was saying at first but the insert has the English translations. Lyrically, it seems as if the band is dealing mostly with personal issues. Definitely a band that, if they can transcend the language barrier, I think is going to do big things.

Obsession - DemoA new band based out of Moscow that reminds me a lot of Unbroken and Judge. This demo is apparently limited to 50 copies so I may not have any of these for sale but Ill see what Vasya sends me. Lyrically, it seems that the band is dealing with personal issues as well (but then again I have a translation that Vasya sent me as the lyrics are printed in Russian) but I may not be picking up some underlying meaning. 2 songs on this demo seems like such a teaser and Im excited to hear more from these guys.

Verdict/Hoy Es El Dia/Shiver - 3 Way SplitIf you've followed my "Current Bands Playing 90's Style Hardcore" series, you've seen give praise to both Verdict and Shiver. Hoy Es El Dia (Chile) I hadn't heard and was pleasantly surprised as they reminded me a lot of Brother's Keeper especially vocally with some Arkangel parts. The songs are sung in Spanish but the insert gives the English translation. I kinda like that bands sing in their native language...always nice to give the translation as well. Shiver (Japan) plays that 90s chug style that I love so much. They had released a demo through the Retribution Network and that was the last thing I had heard from them. Then all of a sudden, heres 3 new songs. Definitely more polished and tighter than their previous release, Im hoping these guys release their own record. Verdict (Russia) was the first band I heard out of the new Russian scene and they have some serious Morning Again worship going on (honestly, shouldn't we all?). For more info on Verdict and Shiver go back and read my past entries.

Anchor - First YearAnchor has been making some serious noise since they started back in 2007. This release collects their "Captivity Songs" as well as a 7 inch (I think) for a total of 8 songs. Band reminds me alot of Strife and Trial with a vegan straight edge message. I have yet to see them and seriously cant wait to. One of the newer bands that I really dig and are giving the US bands a run. They have a new 7 inch out on Refuse Records which Im working on getting copies of.

I apologize for being a bit of a post whore lately but I'm still unemployed and am trying to cram in as many posts now before I get another job and am back in the grind. Today, I proudly present the layout for the great A Chorus of Disapproval EP entitled The Italian 7". This beast was originally released in 1993 and wound up being the final Chorus record. Being Evan Jacobs' brother provided me with the opportunity to hang out quite a bit with the Chorus guys that year and I could literally fill a book with all of the stories and memories of those days. Someday, maybe I will. For now though, enjoy checking out the layout for this full bore hardcore monster.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Speaking of Straight Ed McKirdy, the Livewire Records head honcho makes his triumphant return to the stage this year as the singer/frontman for Skull Crusher, a brutal new band from the brutal land of New York City. Drummer Brian "Gordo" Jordan, also of the great Double Cross webzine, just fucking kills it on the kit as well. Their crushing debut Blinded By Illusion, a Livewire/Reflections Records joint release, will be released shortly. For now though, you can listen to a couple of songs from it on their Myspace page.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Hi everyone. I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season as well as a great new year. Today I bring you an interview with Louisville, KY's By The Grace of God. This was originally printed in I Stand Alone zine which was one of the best of the era in my opinion. Hope you all enjoy it...we have lots planned for the year including an interview with John Wylie on Morning Again and Pete Spielman reflecting on his time in Green Rage.